This is the eighth unit in a series that introduces population concepts into the eighth grade American history curriculum. (See SO 013 782 for an overview of the guide.) In Episode VIII, the history topic is population growth and trends in the United States and developing countries. Objectives are to help the student (1) examine how fertility, mortality, and migration together affect population changes within a society; (2) scruntinize how population change varies from country to country and examine two aspects of change--population size and ratios of population change; (3) investigate some of the major causes and consequences of rapid population growth in the developing countries; (4) explain the relationship between resources and consumption and examine the effects of population growth on resource consumption; and (5) develop the conceptional understanding of the "dependent age group" and the "productive age group" of a population and examine what effects the relative proportions of each have on the sociopolitical structure of society. Activities include having students list components affecting population changes, solving a riddle about population change, designing a plan of action to help eliminate or reduce the population growth problem in Sri Lanka, and debating whether the United States government should introduce technology into a developing country. (NE)