The Glow Life school contest now has a deadline of Dec. 4. Five winning fifth grade classrooms will earn a spring 2027 trip to Dollywood to experience bioluminescence on the park’s newest attraction, NightFlight Expedition.
Dollywood, Smokies Life and Discover Life in America created the program for fifth grade classrooms in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. It teaches students about Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the naturally occurring bioluminescence and biofluorescence found there, which are key parts of NightFlight Expedition’s storyline.
Glow Life includes free curriculum aligned with Tennessee and North Carolina fifth grade science standards, an educational video and a fall 2026 contest. Classrooms are encouraged to create a project in the medium of their choice that explores why bioluminescence and biofluorescence matter to living things in the Smokies. Projects can be an essay, art project, play, video or song, or an imagined new bioluminescent creature.
“In everything we do at Dollywood, it is our goal to be authentic to this amazing place we call home,” said Carol Agee, Dollywood’s Community Affairs and Philanthropy Manager. She said she hopes the project helps teachers encourage their students’ growth in science and deepens their appreciation of the national park.
Bioluminescence occurs when living organisms produce light through a chemical reaction. Biofluorescence occurs when an organism absorbs ultraviolet or blue light and emits it in another color, typically red, orange or green.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is considered the most biodiverse of the U.S. national parks. Discover Life in America has documented more than 22,000 species, while scientists estimate 60,000 to 80,000 species live in the Smokies. Todd Witcher, the group’s executive director, said the contest encourages exploration beyond the park’s synchronous fireflies to organisms such as mushrooms and salamanders.
Teachers can find details on how to participate, along with a list of eligible counties, on the Smokies Life website. Smokies Life CEO Jacqueline Harp said the extended deadline is meant to give more teachers and students the chance to take part.
Smokies Life is a nonprofit partner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park that operates the eight visitor center stores in and around the region. It supports the park’s scientific, historical and interpretive work through educational projects and services for visitors.
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