A scale is a pattern; the fretboard is a map
A scale is a set of intervals measured from a root. Major follows the pattern whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half, which gives the degrees 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. Natural minor flattens the third, sixth and seventh to give 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. The pentatonic scales keep only five of those notes, which is why they are easy to play and hard to get wrong. Because the pattern is relative to the root, one shape on the neck can be moved to any fret to start the same scale in another key.
The finder takes your root, applies the interval pattern and then finds every fret on every string where those notes appear. It spells the notes by key, so F major shows Bb and not A#, and the root is highlighted so you always know where home is. Choose degrees as the label and the same dots read 1, 2, 3 and so on, which is the version worth memorising.