AY Honors/Whistles/Answer Key
1. Relate briefly the history of whistle making and tell why whistles were invented.
Wikipedia - Industrial Whistles
2. Explain the importance of conservation in regard to whistle making.
The Pathfinder motto of "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints", is an important consideration, but obviously you cannot make a whistle without taking some wood. Consider your location carefully for harvesting a twig or two. Try searching for willow bushes in a county road ditch where road crews will have to clear the trees for the safety of drivers and harvest a few before the crews arrive. Maybe you know someone with a hedge that needs trimming ?
Avoid harvesting twigs in any areas sensitive to loss. If your harvesting would disturb nature, look for another location.
3. What do the seasons of the year have to do with making a willow whistle?
Sap is a liquid that circulates within the sapwood of trees. Sap rises up from the roots. Sap contains water and minerals; in the spring it also contains sugars and stimulates the growth of the tree.
A willow whistle requires the maker to remove the bark from a willow twig in a tube shaped piece. The best (or only) season that this can be done is in the spring when there is more sap rising up the tree. This makes the bark more removable from the twig.
4. Name two (2) trees that make the best whistles and why. List three (3) other trees that can be used to make whistles.
Willow and Maple trees are considered the best for making whistles. Willow is often more plentiful than maple, and they grow back very quickly when cut. Some prefer maple because it is straighter and has fewer knots. Maple also grow back quickly if cut from a large stump.
5. Give a brief description of the following styles of whistles:
a. Tube Whistles
b. Pan Whistles
c. Flute Whistles
6. Name five (5) types of modern whistles and their uses.
7. What modern musical instrument is a sophisticated whistle?
8. How does a whistle work?
9. What is the most common equipment used in making whistles?
10. Explain the importance of wood grain in whittling a whistle.
11. Why must the size of the holes and chamber be proportional to the amount of airflow?
12. How do you tune a whistle?
13. Demonstrate that you can make a two-handed whistle using your hand and a piece of grass.
14. Demonstrate the technique and try to accomplish a whistle using your hand(s) or fingers.
15. Review and demonstrate the proper first aid and safety rules for the usage of a pocketknife.
First Aid
Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/First aid/Bleeding
AY Honor First Aid, Basic
Knife Safety
Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Camping/Knife safety
16. Know how to sharpen a pocketknife using a whetstone or oil sharpening stone.
A tool can be sharpened with a whetstone. Most whetstones need to be kept wet when they are in use - some are wet with water and others are wet with oil. Stones with finer grain typically use oil, but you can use water on them as well. The purpose of wetting a whetstone is to allow the steel removed from the blade to float away. The finer the stone, the finer the edge it will make on a tool, but the longer it will take to sharpen it. For this reason, a very dull tool should be sharpened first with a coarser stone, and then with a finer stone. Then it should be kept sharp. You can keep a blade sharp by respecting it - do not chop into the ground with a hatchet, and to not stick a knife blade in the ground either. Dirt is highly abrasive, and a rock will ding the edge very quickly. Close a pocket knife when you are finished using it, and do not allow the business end of a blade to touch anything other than the things you are trying to cut with it.
To sharpen a knife, hold the blade at about a 15° angle and scrape it along a whetstone as if you were trying to shave off a thin layer of the stone. Be sure to sharpen both sides.
