Name____________________________

Period_____

Graphing Project - Choosing a Cellular Plan

You are now independent and you have decided you want to get a smart phone. Of course, this
also means you need to choose a carrier. There are so many different options how do you
choose? For this project you will compare the different possible plans and decide which gives
you the best price. We are going to assume that the only different between carriers is the price
for their services and products. You are to neatly do this project on another piece of paper.
There are 32 total points possible. See the rubric to make sure you get full points!
1. Naturally, your first task is to choose a phone! Do a little research and pick whatever
smart phone you want. Name it.
2. We are going to assume that your only carrier options are AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and
Verizon. Most carriers give two payment options for buying a phone: 1) pay a monthly
price for so many months or 2) pay for it all upfront. Choose which payment method
you prefer and specify how much your phone would cost for each carrier.
3. Is there an activation fee? For each carrier, specify how much the activation fee is, as
well as any other fee you might have to pay upfront.
4. Now lets move on to selecting a plan. How much data do you think you will use each
month?
5. Look at the monthly costs for data in the following tables. Write down how much your
monthly cost would be for each carrier. If a plan doesnt have the exact amount of data,
use the next highest level that would include it. For example, if you thought you would
use 5 GB of data for per month, you would pay for 6 GB a month with AT&T.

Sprint
Data (in GB)
1
3
6
12
24
40

Monthly Cost
$20
$30
$45
$60
$80
$100

T-Mobile
Data (in GB)
3
5
10

Monthly Cost
$40
$50
$60

Verizon
Data (in GB)
2
4
8
12
16
24
30
40
50
60
80
100

AT&T
Data (in GB)
1
3
6
10
16
25
30
40
50
60
80
100

Monthly Cost
$35
$50
$70
$80
$90
$110
$135
$180
$225
$270
$360
$450

Monthly Cost
$30
$40
$60
$80
$90
$110
$135
$180
$225
$270
$360
$450

6. Find the cost of your phone and service over time. Be sure to include the cost for the
first several months, as well as after one, two, and three years. You might find it helpful
to organize the costs over time in a table like the one below
Months
AT&T
cost
Sprint
cost
T-Mobile
Cost
Verizon
Cost

7. Write a rule that gives your cost for the phone and service after any number of months
for each carrier. If you chose to pay for your phone over a period of time, you will need
two equations, one for while you are paying off your phone, and one for after it is paid
off; make sure you specify when to use each equation.
8. Graph the cost of your phone over four years for each carrier. Consider which variable
belongs on which axis and how to set up the scales for each axis. All four graphs should
be on one graph.

Look at the graph and answer the following questions:

9. After one year, which plan gives you the best price? After two years? Three? Four?
10. Where do you see the monthly rate of a cell phone plan in your graph?
11. Where do you see the cost of your phone in the graph?
12. Which carrier do you think is the best deal, and why? Remember, we are only
considering cost.

Sources you can use.

www.att.com
www.sprint.com
www.verizonwireless.com
www.t-mobile.com

Category

Mastery

Proficient

Accurate
Completion of
Project

32 pts
All questions are
answered
completely and
accurately.

24 pts
All questions are
answered with
less than 3
errors.

12 pts
Evidence

Graphs

Units

9 pts
Most work is
shown.
4 pts
4 pts
3 pts
All 4 graphs are All four graphs
plotted correctly are plotted and
and are easy to
are easy to see.
see.
There are no
more than 3
errors.
8 pts
8 pts
6 pts
All units are
Most units are
described (in a
described (in a
key or with
key or with
labels) and are
labels) and are
appropriately
appropriately
sized for the
sized for the
data set.
data set.
4 pts

Neatness

12 pts

All work is
shown.

4 pts
Exceptionally
well designed,
neat, and
attractive.
Colors are used
to make the
graph more
readable. A ruler
and graph paper
are used to
make straight
lines.
4 pts
4 pts

3 pts
Neat and
relatively
attractive. A
ruler and graph
paper are used
to make the
graph more
readable.

3 pts

Progressing
16 pts
All questions are
answered with
more than 3
errors, or 1 or 2
questions have
not been
answered.
6 pts
Some work is
shown.
2 pts
One of the
graphs are
missing OR
there are
between 3 and 6
errors.
4 pts
All units are
described (in a
key or with
labels) but are
not
appropriately
sized for the
data set.
2 pts
Lines are neatly
drawn but the
graph appears
quite plain.

2 pts

Emerging
8 pts
More than 3
questions have
not been
answered. There
are many errors.

3 pts
No work is
shown.
1 pt
More than one
graph is missing
OR there are
more than 6
errors.
2 pts
Units are
neither
described NOR
appropriately
sized for the
data set.

1 pt
Appears messy
and "thrown
together" in a
hurry. Lines are
visibly crooked.

1 pt

References
Choose Your High Speed Data. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.sprint.com/shop/planwall/?INTNAV=TopNav:Shop:Plans#!/?plan=individual
Data. (2016). Retrieved from https://forums.att.com/t5/Account-Features/Data/td-p/4936348
Pick your new plan size. (2016). Retrieved from
https://www.verizonwireless.com/plans/verizon-plan/
Prepaid Individual Plans | No Annual Contracts. No Overages | T-Mobile. (2016). Retrieved from
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans-individual
What Plan Should You Get for Your Phone? (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.yummymath.com/wp-content/uploads/Cell-plans-i6.pdf