Taxonomy

Well, as biology is my strong point, I figure I'll start out there. And where better to start than taxonomy? Here is the general guide;

Important Marine Classifications
1. Kingdom Monera (or Prokaryotae)
2. Phylum Cyanophyta - benthic cyanobacteria

3. Kingdom Protista
4. Phylum Chlorophyta - benthic green algae
5. Phylum Chrysophyta - planktonic diatoms
6. Phylum Pyrrophyta - planktonic dinoflagellates
7. Phylum Phaeophyta - benthic brown algae (such as kelp)
8. Phylum Rhodophyta - benthic red algae

9. Kingdom Plantae
10. Phylum Traecheophyta - true plants
11. Class Angiospermae - flowering plants (sea grasses, mangroves, reeds and rushes)

12. Kingdom Animalia
14. Phylum Porifera - sponges
15. Phylum Cnidaria - jellyfish, corals and anemones
16. Phylum Mollusca
17. Class Polyplacophora - chitons
18. Class Gastropoda - slugs, snails and limpets
19. Class Bivalvia - clams, oysters, mussels and other bivalves
20. Class Cephalopoda - octopuses and squids
21. Phylum Arthropoda
22. Class Crustacea - shrimp, crabs, lobsters, copepods, barnacles and krill
23. Phylum Echinodermata - sea urchins, sea stars, brittle stars, sea cucumbers and sand dollars
24. Phylum Chordata, Subphylum Vertebrata
25. Class Chondrichthyes - sharks, skates and rays
26. Class Osteichthyes - bony fish
27. Class Reptilia - marine turtles, iguanas, crocodiles and sea snakes
28. Class Aves - penguins, albatrosses, pelicans, cormorants, gulls and puffins
29. Class Mammalia - sea lions, seals, walruses, sea otters, whales and manatees


See, wasn't that fun? As a general review, remember

Kids Prefer Candy Over Fresh Green Salads

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species



Take this example I pulled from Wikipedia, the taxonmy of modern humans:
Dominion: Terroa (uses double-helix DNA to store hereditary information and creates proteins using the twenty left-handed amino acids)
Domain: Eukarya (organisms which have cells with a nucleus)
Kingdom: Animalia (with eukaryotic cells having cell membrane but lacking cell wall, multicellular, heterotrophic)
Phylum: Chordata (animals with a notochord, dorsal nerve cord, and pharyngeal gill slits, which may be vestigial)
Subphylum: Vertebrata (possessing a backbone, which may be cartilaginous, to protect the dorsal nerve cord)
Class: Mammalia (endothermic vertebrates with hair and mammary glands which, in females, secrete milk to nourish young)
Cohort: Placentalia (giving birth to live young after a full internal gestation period)
Order: Primates (collar bone, eyes face forward, grasping hands with fingers, and two types of teeth: incisors and molars)
Family: Hominidae (upright posture, large brain, stereoscopic vision, flat face, hands and feet have different specializations)
Genus: Homo (s-curved spine, "man")
Species: Homo sapiens (high forehead, well-developed chin, skull bones thin)