Yes, the 1st degree IS the root note. So, a "second" is literally the interval formed by the root (1st degree) and the 2nd degree; likewise, a "third" is just the interval formed by the root and the 3rd degree (I made a stupid mistake in my last replies, should have said major/minor third instead of second, sorry about that!). As I said, the major scale is "0-2-4-5-7-9-11-12", the natural minor scale "0-2-3-5-7-8-10-12". You can see that they both have "2", which forms a major second together with the "0" (the root note). The same goes for the "7", which forms a perfect fifth with"0". But when we look at the 3rd degree there's a difference: the major scale has "4", which forms a major third along with "0", and the minor scale has "3", which forms a minor third with "0". The same can be said for the 6th degree, the major scale has "9" while the minor scale has "8". These differences are the reason why the scales have unique characteristics that distinguish themselves from each other.