"Conservation of mass" means that the particles in any particular object cannot be destroyed and they cannot increase sporadically. They can only be moved around or changed into different particles. The law of conservation of mass says that when two things become one thing, or one thing becomes two things, the mass of the original(s) is equivalent to the mass of the new thing. For example, if you have hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms, and you combine them to make water molecules, there has been no mass lost or gained and there can never be. And even if that water changes from a liquid to a gas or a solid, the mass still remains the same.
Energy is no different. The "conservation of energy" means that the total amount of energy in a system cannot increase or decrease, it can only change forms. Potential energy can become kinetic energy, and kinetic can become thermal energy due to friction, but the energy is not created or destroyed.
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