I don't see anything like this in the book. Are these potentiometers? If so how do you turn them?
Those do look like potentiometers, but usually they come with little rods that are black or white, and have a hexagon on one end and a handle on the other, and the end with the hexagon fits into the hexagon in the center of the white circle in the middle of the potentiometers, as far as turning them without that rod, you could try a small Allen wrench and stick one end in the hole and turn it that way...
Was this an official Arduino starter kit you bought from Arduino?
Yes. Got it last month.
Potentiometers were the only thing on the list that I couldn't identify, so thanks, you have confirmed my suspicion. I didn't notice any rods in the kit, but I have plenty of allen wrenches and other potentiometers as well.
You threw the plastic knobs away with all the shipping plastic.
Do you know this to be a fact or is it just an assumption?
My first guess would have been variable inductors, but could just as well be resistors. The hex hole in the middle is a throw back to older devices: we had special tools (generally made of plastic to avoiding shorting a live device) for adjusting these.
You can test them with a multimeter. If they are potentiometers, there should be some kind of marking on them and then you can measure the resistance to confirm. If they are inductors, they will be a near short.
Fact.
Expectations of a pre-built kit versus Arduino kit packaging to make customers happy and keep them coming back. I'm going to stand with Arduino creating a perfectly enjoyable, learning experience, with every detail included, and sold for ten times the cheap stuff I buy, which arrives with all the plastic bits... against someone not knowing what a potentiometer is, or that it has two parts, or what the extra parts are in the giblets bag.
And you? Where is your burden of proof that I am even remotely off by the slightest? "I checked." Like you have not read that here, 100 times a day, only to read "oh, here it is." Or did you just want my attention?
I agree with this:
I tried to search with google lens and hit this potentiometers:
Rectangular Horizontally Adjustable Resistance Potentiometer (Aliexpress)
I think it's good to identify what those are:
I thought those were standoffs, for no apparent reason. It would be nice if they added a sheet of paper or access to a file showing all the parts and what they are.
Well speaking of assumptions, no, I did not throw away the plastic parts. And I do know what a potentiometer is, I alreay own several of 2 very different physical construction, neither of which require a second part for use. My only complaint with this kit is lack of an inventory list with pictures.
I did find them - thanks! I had mistaken them for some kind of stand-offs.
Obviously he could not know this unless he broke into my house! 
And I didn't throw them away, just mis-identified them. But thanks to the answers here I'm good now.
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Let's calm things down in this topic. If users feel the need to snipe at one another then please do it in PMs or preferable not at all
@jreebel now knows what the components are and what needs to happen to make them work, ie fix the shafts to them, and can move on with using the Starter Kit
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I see a confusion here in that the pots should have a dial or knob to turn. But, no dial or knob was found. Instead, a shaft was supplied for the pots and so it was not recognized at first. Problem solved! [Incomplete documentation with the kit!]
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