A paramecium is a single-celled organism that lives in ponds and other bodies of water. One of the challenges for a paramecium is to maintain homeostasis. A paramecium maintains homeostasis by responding to variations in the concentration of salt in the water in which it lives. (The concentration of a solution is equal to the
amount of solute that is dissolved in a given amount of solvent.) The contractile vacuole is a star-shaped structure that helps the paramecium to pump out excess water
Explain how water moves into and out of the paramecium. What natural process is involved? Without a contractile vacuole, what could happen to the paramecium if there
was a lower concentration of solute (higher concentration of water) outside the cell membrane than inside? Why? Explain using specific details.