I think making your own notes at the end of the day will always be the best course to take. I think the jacaranda chemistry, chemistry in context and conquering chemistry are quite good reference textbooks. Well, to identify what you do and don't know about the preliminary:
1)Use the syllabus-pretend you are explaining each dot point to some one-if you are able to explain each dot point in depth-including all your first hand and second-hand investigations, then you are good to go.
2)Or you can complete full Preliminary Chemistry Trials and do it under exam condition-mark it with sample answers and again these practices will enable you to identify your weaknesses that you need to improve upon-this includes knowledge, structure of your response, exam time management etc.
3)If you are able to tick off the main concepts I have outlined for each topic as below, you know you are all good to go to start learning the yr 12 stuff:
1)The Chemical Earth-main concepts includes physical (e.g. gravimetric analysis) and chemical separation techniques(e.g. Adding a solvent, then filtration)different properties used to identify pure substances, categorising matter into homogenous/heterogeneous/pure/mixtures/elements/compounds etc
2)Metals-main concepts includes: properties, uses and reactions of metals, relating physical properties of metals to their uses, history of metallurgy, extraction and refining of metal from ores(e.g. copper), the activity series, redox-reaction, quantitative aspects of formulae and equations(i.e. learn about moles and how to use it in calculation questions, relative atomic mass, chemists: Dalton, Gay-Lussac and Avogadro's postulates and laws), trends of the periodic table
3)Water- main concepts includes: uses(consumption, recreation etc), properties(e.g. surface tension, viscosity, specific heat capacity etc) and structure of water(i.e. as a polar molecule), learn about different intermolecular forces such as dispersion, dipole-dipole forces and hydrogen bonding, learn about the structure of different substances and relate it to their solubility in water(e.g. ionic, polar/non-polar molecular, covalent lattices), precipitation reactions, molarity and concentration and application in solving questions, thermal pollution
4)Energy-main concepts include: allotropes of carbon, structural formulae and molecular models of simple carbon molecules, fractional distillation of crude oil, homologous series, naming alkanes and alkenes and their physical properties, isomers, functional groups, composition of fossil fuels and uses, safety precautions for storing alkanes, exothermic/endothermic reactions, enthalpy, heat of combustion, activation energy, factors influencing the rate of chemical reactions
My top 3 tips for preparing for chemistry assessments and exams(can be applied to science subjects in general):
1)Practical assessments-make sure you know reliability, validity, accuracy, sources of error, possible areas for improvement, independent/dependent/controlled variables, risk assessment for all the experiments you have done in class, make sure you can master basic science skills such as drawing line of best fit, drawing experimental set up accurately, using numbered points in writing a logical procedure, understand the requirements of the exam(I.e. how much time, how many parts) and allocate your time accordingly, make sure you understand the chemical principle/theory behind why you did each experiment
2)Theory assessments and exams-make sure you PERSONALLY write a set of summarised notes according to each dot point of the syllabus in a concise but detailed manner-make sure you include appropriate diagrams as well, after you wrote the notes, make sure to start practising questions and CHECKING YOUR ANSWERS in textbooks-i.e. Roland Smith's Conquering Chemistry has an exam question section which is quite good, ask your teacher for practice questions and make links between dotpoints and across modules to reinforce your understanding. Throughout the year, you should be progressively cutting down your notes as you store more things into your long term memory-revise regularly. Before your final trial exam-you should try to get your hands on as many preliminary exams as possible to practice-and look at the marking guidelines, remember to practice under EXAM CONDITIONS. Make sure when you make notes you are at least referring to 3 different sources to synthesise your information. (colour-code and use mind-maps to make your notes engaging and easy to remember). In your notes, don't neglect to include all your experiments and second-hand investigations.
3)For other types of assessments such as group presentations, individual research assignments, second-hand investigations-you should strive to always include a comprehensive bibliography that indicates you have sourced your information not only from websites, but from journals/books as well, you should understand how to evaluate accuracy/reliability/validity in relation to the sources of information you are using, like other types of assessment, pay close attention to the marking criteria and make sure you fulfil it as much as possible, make sure your information is comprehensive, non-repetitive and answers the verb of the question: i.e. discuss, evaluate, compare, contrast, assess, examine (so for that matter, memorise what the main verbs used in your exam questions means, it is included in the link:
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au..._keywords.html)
One last word of advice, you being the top of your science class does not indicate the depth of your knowledge, it just indicates you have a deeper understanding relative to your class, you should always aim to compete against yourself-otherwise if you are satisfied with being the top, it is very hard to maximise your potential. Catching up is possible-but for the pracs-you might need to watch videos online-learning the experimental skills and how to write reports are important. I hope this helps and all my best wishes for your HSC to be filled with no regrets
