Since Lorraine is picking blackberries in her backyard at a rate of 15 berries per minute, and after 16 minutes of picking, there are still 137 blackberries left to pick, to determine an equation that models how many berries are left (y) after x minutes of picking, the following calculation must be performed:
137 - 16X = Y
Thus, for example, after 5 minutes the calculation would be as follows:
Since it starts at 50 and goes to 35....it is a decrease since the amount is going down, or getting smaller. To find the percent, first find the difference 50-35 = 15; then divide by the initial amount of 50. So, 15/50 = 0.3, and then convert that to a percent by multiplying by 100. Therefore the percent decrease is 30%
