As the world grapples with increasing environmental, social, and security problems, population is rarely considered a cause or contributing factor. The relationship of population to the human condition, and to the condition of the Earth, is often subtle and complex. But population growth affects almost every aspect of life from education to employment to the environment; it contributes to hunger, migration, war, and disease. This curriculum unit on population issues for high school and college students is divided into the following essay and information sections: "Introduction: Who Cares about Population Anyway?"; "A Brief History of World Population"; "How Many People Can the Earth Support?"; "Tracking the Trends: A Look at Key Indicators"; "Population and the Environment";"Economic and Social Impacts of Population Growth"; "Population and Religion"; "Does the U.S. Have a Population Problem?"; and "And Now the Good News: Personal and Global Solutions." This curriculum guide aims to deliver a well-rounded understanding of population issues to high school and college students. The guide is divided into the following sections: (1) "How to Use the Curriculum Guide"; (2) "Goals and Objectives"; (3) "Curriculum Guide by Issue"; (4) "Population Ethics Issues"; (5) "Hands-On Illustrations and Activities"; and (6) "Additional References and Resources." The first section offers a scope-and-sequence for three teaching scenarios: 1-day, 1-week, and 9-week units. Most sections of the guide offer two sets of problems: discussion questions for classroom study and research assignments for independent study. The activities and hands-on illustrations require preparation and may be used as stand-alone lesson plans. The unit is designed to conform to the standards of Goals 2000, the National Council for the Social Studies, and the National Council for Geographic Education. The unit's goals are: understand the interconnectedness of population growth and key issues confronting the world today; understand patterns of population growth and change within the community; understand historical population facts in a time sequence and alternative future scenarios; become aware of personal responsibility for and power to help solve population and related global issues; and develop a means of communicating to the community that sustainable human numbers are essential to human and ecological well being. (BT)