The second project we did in tech is testing regular cubes vs. cubes with trusses.
I built the toothpick cube version, and here is how it went. The obvious winner was the cube with trusses, as both of them were tested with a plate, and the cube with trusses had held up just fine, while the regular cube bent and almost fell apart. The regular cube was made with toothpicks and marshmallows, with the marshmallows at the corners to connect the toothpicks. The cube with trusses only used 4 more toothpicks than the regular cube, so it was a big improvement for a little cost.