This study was designed to determine whether fifth and sixth grade children retain both the factual materials and applications of the factual materials better when a unit in electricity and magnetism is taught by the inductive method or when the unit is taught by the lecture-demonstration technique. The sample consisted of 346 pupils of fifth and sixth grade, divided into two groups. Six teachers were involved in the study. Children were pretested, post-tested, and given a delayed retention test six weeks following the study. The pupils of the lecture-demonstration group with average or below average intelligence scored slightly higher on the achievement test than comparable pupils of the inductive method group, whereas the pupils on the inductive method group with above average intelligence scored higher than their counterparts in the lecture-demonstration group. For delayed retention, the type of instructional method made very little difference, but some differences in favor of the lecture-demonstration method for girls were noted. (GR)