The relationship between student's home environment and achievement in science was examined using data from the 1985-86 National Assessment of Educational Progress, Science Assessment, for a nationally representative sample of American school age children in grades 7 and 11. Science achievement and background data were also collected for grade 3. The home environment variables included: (1) parent characteristics; (2) students' use of free time; (3) educational support of students at home; and (4) indicators of interest in reading at home. Mean sample sizes were 11,298 for grade 7 and 6,534 for grade 11. Eighteen tables are presented to relate these variables to science subscales (life science, physics, chemistry, earth and space sciences, and nature of science), while keeping race/ethnicity, gender, and type of school attended constant. The results support previous findings that the educational attainment of parents is related to the educational achievement of students. Data suggest that the more television that White students view, the lower their science achievement; this finding was not true for Black and Hispanic students. Problems with the use of some of the background questions are identified. It is concluded that the percentage correct metric is not sensitive enough to compare the relationship of several variables to performance on the science assessment. Eight figures illustrate the discussion. (SLD)