This transformed DNA-extraction lab activity offers a framework that strategically draws upon the essential elements of both scientific and effective teaching practices to establish an alternative approach to the teaching and learning of science. The pedagogical methods utilized throughout this activity encourage students' motivation, engagement, and learning through inquirybased, teacher-facilitated scientific practices. Additionally, this activity emphasizes Dimension 1 of the Framework for K-12 Science Education (Scientific and Engineering Practices; National Research Council, 2012). In the activity, students worked in groups and were allowed to examine different traditional lab protocols and other resources. The students had the freedom of selecting an independent variable that could possibly have an effect on the DNA extraction. To demonstrate how this activity was implemented in the classroom, a running vignette of a DNA-extraction activity in a high school biology class, in which the teacher adhered to the elements of this framework, is included.