This is a short video that demonstrates a simple way teachers can introduce a research-geared approach to simple, everyday phenomena. In this case, it is the hydraulic jump. We see this daily any time one turns on a sink faucet, and that stream of water hits a hard surface and flows out in a smooth, circular manner - but at some radius, the water level 'jumps' up and goes into turbulent flow.
By having students spend 5 minutes pouring water on a hard surface, and thinking about and listing any and all possible variables or parameters that may have an effect on the jump, one can quickly come up with a double-digit list of possible experiments you can try, and investigate under more controlled conditions the effect of this or that on the jump: flow rate of water, height from which you pour the water, temperature of the water, falling on a horizontal surface vs an angled surface, if the water stream falls on just a smooth surface or if there is an object it hits and flows over, if there are two streams of water and the jumps interact, changing the surface the water lands on, and so on. All of these can be turned into research studies!
