<u><em>Answer:</em></u>
The initial value is 3
It represents the distance between the bird and its nest before any elapsed time which is 3 miles.
<u><em>Step-by-step explanation:</em></u>
The graph is shown in the attached image.
<u>The general form of a straight line is:</u>
y = mx + c
where:
m is the slope and c is the y-intercept.
The y-intercept is also known as the initial value. It is the value of y at x=0.
From the givens, we can note that at x = 0, the y-value is 3. This means that the y-intercept is 3.
Now, in the problem, x represents the time in minutes while y represents the distance of the bird from the nest in miles.
At x = 0, meaning before any time elapsed, the distance of the bird from its nest was 3 miles.
Hope this helps :)
