Angela
The quick answer is:
instance (member) variables are variables that belong to each iondiovidual instance of an object. Each instance has its own copy of the variable.
static (class) variables belong to the class itself there is only one copy of the variable no matter how many of instances of the class there are.
This can be a fairly detailed topic and you can find other resources for it:
the java tutorial is probably the place to start.
hope that helps