Students were recently asked to reflect on their understanding of infrastructure. In addition to defining the term students were asked to consider its relevancy to a nation and how to determine its effectiveness. Here's what Lincoln seniors had to say. If you want to join the conversation, share your thoughts here Discussions With Diaz.

• "Infrastructure is like the backbone of a country, it's everything that helps people live their lives more easily, like roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, water, etc.. Imagine trying to get to school if there were no roads or trying to get help when you're sick if there were no hospitals. That's why infrastructure is so important, it makes sure people can do everyday basics safely and quickly. When a country has a good infrastructure, people can get to work or school easily, stay healthy, and enjoy a better quality of life. It also helps the country grow stronger because businesses can run smoothly, and everyone can contribute to making the nation better." Widgerlie Chalerma

• "Infrastructure are the basic necessities for us humans like bridges, roads, airports, buildings. These things we use to do stuff and it makes it easier for us. We need these things to be organized as humans or we would be living in forests and it would be harder to travel. Back then they didn't have that much infrastructure so they used horses, dirt roads, huts, and other primitive things to hunt and survive. All we have to do now is get in our car; go to work; get fast food; and be on our phones. Infrastructure is good because you don't have to work as hard to get places or get over rivers or worry about temperature problems because we have well insulated buildings with ac. Some places don't have a nice infrastructure. They have dirt roads and not buildings made from metal. Cars are less present so people mostly walk or use a bike." King Crumpton

• "Infrastructure is the basic necessities needed to create a modern city, buildings, and bridges. I think it is necessary because all countries should be modernized and have better places to live, better roads to walk, better buildings to live, more security, and better, easier communication. A good infrastructure allows for the physical mobility of people and products, help transport goods and services, and enable people to access work, school, and recreational activities. Infrastructure in poor countries is different. In poor countries they don't have a modern city or buildings. Existing infrastructure is often of poor quality due to lack of funding, poor maintenance and the use of substandard materials. This results in frequent breakdowns such as power outages, road collapses and water pollution." Patrick Deshommes

• "Infrastructure is the basic necessity needed to turn a city modern; buildings, electrical, sewage systems, and communication. I think this is necessary in a nation because without it we wouldn't be any more advanced than we are now. Society would crush to waste, meaning it would affect us negatively because these are basic needs society needs so we can function. The results of having a good infrastructure is making progress. It benefits not only us but the government as well because having a good infrastructure can possibly bring in more money to the economy." Yoselin Hurtado

• "Infrastructure is the basic necessities to run citys, states or nations. Infrastructure is necessary to nations because it keeps city's safe, clean and working properly. For example bridges are the only thing connecting two pieces of land and without that bridge you would never be able to easily access the other side. Necessary infrastructure pieces include bridges, roads, buildings, water/sewer systems and railroads. Without a lot of those infrastructures the city's economy could be way lower as travel times without roads, bridges and railroads would increase. Also traffic would be worse without well designed roads or freeways and citizens would spend more time traveling which means less time for other things too. Finally the sewer and water systems provide clean disposal of waste and drinking water which is necessary for human life." Ty Olsen