Final answer:
The given statement is true; Jefferson removes 22 lego pieces a minute from the box, as indicated by the slope of -22 in the rearranged equation y = -22x + 819.
Step-by-step explanation:
The given equation y - 555 = -22(x - 12) can be used to determine whether the statement "Jefferson removes 22 lego pieces a minute from the box" is true or false. To do this, we rearrange the equation into the form y = mx + b where m represents the slope and b the y-intercept. First, we distribute the -22 into the parentheses: y - 555 = -22x + 264. Then, we add 555 to both sides of the equation to solve for y: y = -22x + 819. The slope m equals -22, which indicates the number of lego pieces removed per minute. Therefore, the statement is true, as the slope indicates that Jefferson removes 22 lego pieces per minute from the box.