Customers can pick their own cherries at cherry Hill Farm. They pay $4 to enter the farm and $3.50 per pound for the cherries they pick. Write an equation to model the total cost, y, for x pounds of cherries.

Answer: The equation would be y = 3. x + 4.

This is an example of a slope-intercept form equation. They are always in the form of y = mx + b.

The m value is the slope, that is the amount that the equation is increasing by. In this case, the cost is going up by 3.5 per pound.

The b value is the y-intercept, that is the starting amount. In this case, the starting cost is the $4 entry fee.