Unknowing means not having all the information you need to understand something. A bank robber's unknowing accomplice might drive the getaway car without realizing that's what he's doing.
A teacher might be worried about an approaching storm and the possibility of tornadoes, while her unknowing class calmly completes an assignment. And you may try to protect the unknowing eyes of your little brother from the dead squirrel in the street because you know he'll get upset. There's a kind of innocence to the lack of knowledge that results in being unknowing. In the 14th century, there was also a verb, unknow, that meant "fail to recognize."