The atomic ontology is an alternative conceptual framework that considers (i) (discrete) atoms as the starting points for chemical processes, and (ii) other entries to necessarily derive from atoms,
"…in general, chemical reactions involve molecules and/or ions, and seldom ever involve reactants in the form of discrete atoms. That seems to be a reasonable statement based on the vast catalogue of reactions that have been investigated, even if a common approach in teaching is to think about how compounds come about by considering discrete atoms…" (Taber, 2019)
The atomic ontology is a component of the octet rule [alternative] conceptual framework that is a very common alternative framework among chemistry learners.
Read about the octet rule conceptual framework
