Can anyone explain how the two tone controls work

The only way i can get a difference in sound is if i turn them both all the way in one direction

It depends to some extent on the model of your guitar, but a traditional Strat's tone controls affect the neck and middle pickups only. The first tone knob (middle knob on your guitar) is for the neck pickup, and the second (bottom knob on guitar) is for the middle pickup.

With both set to 10, you'll hear the "brightest" sounds those pickups produce. When you roll off the treble and take the tone knobs towards 1, the sound becomes more muffled and is often perceived as being "warmer."

The tone controls will have some effect on any pickup combination except the bridge pickup on its own (position 5).

Some Strat models are wired so that the tone knobs also work for the bridge pickup (I think the Eric Johnson model is one), and some have a TBX (treble/bass cut) control that is neutral on 5, but cuts bass or treble frequencies depending on which way it's rotated (the old Strat Plus series had this feature — I'm sure it's still around somewhere in the current lineup but I don't really keep up with every development).

Some players like to make use of the tone knobs, and others like to leave everything on 10 and control their tone through their amplifier and/or effects.