As Middle School Science Teacher Alex Randhava explains, "Forces acting within a structure can be difficult to see. To reveal the forces of tension, compression, shearing and torsion (ask your children what this all means!), and to really see them at play, it helps to build tall." Grade 7 Science students were challenged to build a tower higher than 300 centimeters using a limited number of very weak balsa wood beams. Each section worked together to construct a tower. They began with a common ratio of height to base (5:1) but diverged from there. One stands on four vertical columns and narrows like a wedding cake, supporting less mass in each section as it climbs. The other is built from a series of triangles, conserving material by constructing around three main columns. Both must solve the problem of bowing in the vertical columns, shearing from misaligned forces, and the tendency of this material to break. Each class's completed tower is now standing tall and proud in the Middle School Learning Commons.