About the Amoeba Sisters YouTube Channel:
The Amoeba Sisters is a YouTube channel started by sisters Sarina Peterson and Brianna Rapini in July 2013, and it specializes in teaching biology concepts at the high school level (and beyond) by using illustrated cartoons. Brianna Rapini is a former high school biology teacher and worked in three different Texas public school districts for a total of 12 years. Sarina Peterson is a former program analyst in a large Texas public school district, and she is a self-taught cartoonist who learned to draw on YouTube. The channel was originally created as a way to make memorable and short biology videos that could be used in lieu of lengthy lectures so that more time could be available for class discussion, labs, and student creation. The channel grew unexpectedly and in the Fall 2017, it became necessary to work on the channel full-time. Run by only the sister team of two, the channel has grown to over 900,000 subscribers with a cumulative view count of over 100 million (as of January 2021) - you can see the channel's current stats as of today's date here. Their online community has translated videos in over 22 different languages. The two sisters formed Amoeba Sisters LLC and created some optional resources, such as their "Unlectured Series," that complement their videos and also help with supporting them financially so that they (1) can create full-time and (2) keep their YouTube videos, comics, and GIFs free.
YouTube Channel Mission Statement:
To demystify science with humor and relevance via our creations (videos, GIFs, comics, resources).
YouTube Channel Audience:
The Amoeba Sisters YouTube Channel is directed for high school biology (as Pinky is a former high school biology teacher); in addition, a public survey of over 26,000 viewers on their YouTube community tab in November 2019 also showed 37% of the responding audience as college/university students as many of these concepts (protein synthesis, mitosis, DNA replication, etc) are taught in introductory biology at the college level. The channel is for anyone wanting to learn biology.
Creators:
Sarina Peterson
Location:
Garland, Texas, USA
Items Created:
Videos on YouTube
GIFs
Paramecium Parlor Comics
Webtoon
Handouts and Resources
Historical Milestones:
Please see milestones page.
Some Online Mentions of The Amoeba Sisters Channel:
Social Media
YouTube: @AmoebaSisters
Twitter: @AmoebaSisters
Facebook: @AmoebaSisters
Tumblr: @AmoebaSisters
Instagram: @AmoebaSistersOfficial
Contact Information:
Please see contact page.
The Amoeba Sisters is a YouTube channel started by sisters Sarina Peterson and Brianna Rapini in July 2013, and it specializes in teaching biology concepts at the high school level (and beyond) by using illustrated cartoons. Brianna Rapini is a former high school biology teacher and worked in three different Texas public school districts for a total of 12 years. Sarina Peterson is a former program analyst in a large Texas public school district, and she is a self-taught cartoonist who learned to draw on YouTube. The channel was originally created as a way to make memorable and short biology videos that could be used in lieu of lengthy lectures so that more time could be available for class discussion, labs, and student creation. The channel grew unexpectedly and in the Fall 2017, it became necessary to work on the channel full-time. Run by only the sister team of two, the channel has grown to over 900,000 subscribers with a cumulative view count of over 100 million (as of January 2021) - you can see the channel's current stats as of today's date here. Their online community has translated videos in over 22 different languages. The two sisters formed Amoeba Sisters LLC and created some optional resources, such as their "Unlectured Series," that complement their videos and also help with supporting them financially so that they (1) can create full-time and (2) keep their YouTube videos, comics, and GIFs free.
YouTube Channel Mission Statement:
To demystify science with humor and relevance via our creations (videos, GIFs, comics, resources).
YouTube Channel Audience:
The Amoeba Sisters YouTube Channel is directed for high school biology (as Pinky is a former high school biology teacher); in addition, a public survey of over 26,000 viewers on their YouTube community tab in November 2019 also showed 37% of the responding audience as college/university students as many of these concepts (protein synthesis, mitosis, DNA replication, etc) are taught in introductory biology at the college level. The channel is for anyone wanting to learn biology.
Creators:
Sarina Peterson
- Current Work: Amoeba Sisters LLC (self-employed)
- Previous Work: Program Analyst in a Texas public school district
- Education: Bachelor's in Economics, Master's in Public Policy Analysis
- Current Work: Amoeba Sisters LLC (self-employed)
- Previous Work: AP Biology, Pre-AP Biology, On-Level Biology High School Classroom Teacher + Additional Roles in Public School Education (total of 12 years working in 3 different Texas public school districts)
- Education: Bachelor of Science in Biology, Master's in Educational Administration + currently taking additional graduate hours in biology
Location:
Garland, Texas, USA
Items Created:
Videos on YouTube
GIFs
Paramecium Parlor Comics
Webtoon
Handouts and Resources
Historical Milestones:
Please see milestones page.
Some Online Mentions of The Amoeba Sisters Channel:
- A YouTube's Learn@Home Featured Channel for Science
- Interviewed by Podcasts Including The Science Pawdcast (2020 episode here) and The Show About Science (2016 episode here)
- Article from UTeach, a university-based STEM teacher preparation program.
- Mentioned here by the Alcade, a University of Texas Publication
- Mentioned by Master Teacher John Mead in his National Geographic Education blog post
- Mentioned here by Edsurge
- Mentioned in an article from the Washington Post
- Mentioned in an article from Bloomberg
- The Amoeba Sisters have presented sessions, and also keynotes, at a variety of conferences: please see list here.
- Amoeba Sisters gets its name from the fact that the creators are actually sisters and that the organism amoeba, with its amorphous shape, was one of the easier organism types to draw as their characters. However, as pointed out on the about page, these are two very unique amoebas. Amoebas don't have eyes, stars on their heads, or heads...
- The main Amoeba Sisters characters - "Pinky" and "Petunia" - have had some gradual changes in their appearance over the years. Some of the changes include the stars on their heads. They stars have not only changed positions, but sometimes they sink into the cytoplasm, so only a few points are visible.
- The personality of the main Amoeba Sisters characters "Pinky" (Brianna) and "Petunia" (Sarina) are inspired by the sisters' own personality traits.
- The sisters live over 200 miles from each other: one in the Houston, TX area and the other in the Dallas, TX area. They work with each other remotely.
- Script and audio are done by "Pinky" (Brianna) and all art and video editing is done by "Petunia" (Sarina). While there are occasional videos where Petunia will talk such as the beginning of their microscopes video, most voicing is done by Pinky and all drawings are done by Petunia.
- "Petunia" (Sarina) has no training in art, and she learned to draw mainly from YouTube. Since the channel generally doesn't delete old videos, you can see the progression of her art from the very beginning on their milestone page.
- Video topics tend to be based on a high school biology concept or standard, and they're often suggested by the community. A topic is selected each month, sometimes by a vote.
- The channel is beta-testing YouTube's Learning Playlist (feature was announced at VidCon in 2019), and they have one large biology learning playlist with over 75 videos.
Social Media
YouTube: @AmoebaSisters
Twitter: @AmoebaSisters
Facebook: @AmoebaSisters
Tumblr: @AmoebaSisters
Instagram: @AmoebaSistersOfficial
Contact Information:
Please see contact page.
