How are thermal energy and temperature different?

Fourth graders have been learning about heat and temperature in science. Today, they began an investigation with two cups of warm water of different amounts--1 cup and 1/2 cup. First, they measured the temperature of each cup of water. Next, they put in one ice cube and stirred until the ice cube melted. Then they recorded the temperature of the cups. They continued adding ice cubes and recording the temperature. The cup with more water has many more water particles than the small cup. More particles mean more energy of motion. They learned if one cup has more warm water in it than another cup, then the cup with more warm water will have more thermal energy. This activity helped students see that temperature is the average amount of energy in a substance, and thermal energy is the total amount of energy.